Sunday, July 20, 2008

The Double Life of Veronique

Wonderful. I started thinking about this word today, about how it really means full of wonder. I am going to start thinking of it that way more often, and using it that way. The world is wonderful. This was the perfect (wonderful) film to make that point clear.

The shadow of lace curtains cast against a sleeping body. A teabag spinning in its cup. If you notice things like this, the tiny miracles of living, you will at least like (if not love) this film.The Double Life of Veronique is by Krystztov Kieslowski, whose Blue, White, and Red I've been meaning to see for years and years and years (even more so now that I've seen this one). It was released in 1991, when I was nine, so I will forgive myself for not seeing before today. It is the story of a woman who is, somehow, simultaneously living two lives (I think the mechanics of this are left up to the viewer, as to how and why this is possible, or if it even is), one in Poland and one in Paris. It is also a love story, and in this aspect it reminded me a lot of Amelie (although I suppose it should be the other way around, as this film most definitely came first). This is a quiet, beautiful film about the wonder of life and love, and about looking at the world in slightly different ways in order to really see it.